libraries and philosophy

New Orleans in 30 CDs

I’ve been tapped to present at the 2011 ALA Annual Conference as a part of the “Why Transliteracy?” panel and I’m excited by the opportunity. As to the conference itself, I’ve never been to Annual, so I don’t have any sage words of advice or survival strategies. I can’t recommend any sessions or events, though there are some interesting suggestions from HackLibSchool, Bobbi Newman, and others. If you want the skinny, it’s best to head over to Ink and Vellum for a bit, then come back. You know, I also can’t recommend what to pack, though I’ve been told that you should wear sensible walking shoes during the day and stash those cute espadrille slingbacks in your oversized summer tote for later (do they have a size 12?). In fact, outside of my presentation, the only preparations I’m making involve the music I’ll be bringing…

I’ll be leaving around 5:30a.m. on Friday, and it’s about eight hours to the Big Easy. Given that I’ll be going from the pre-dawn fog of Northern Alabama hill country to the blistered blacktop of Mississippi to the sweltering back-alleys of the Big Easy, I’ll need a range of musical offerings to keep me going. Here’s the catch: I’ll be driving a university car and I don’t know if I’ll be able to connect my iPod. This is strange because, now that we expect to have our entire music library in our pocket at all times, we don’t usually have to choose which albums to take on a trip. So, just to be safe, I’ve pulled out the old 30 CD Case Logic visor and now I have to revisit the lost art of crafting the road trip playlist.

Here, in a strange order that makes sense perhaps only to me, are the 30 CDs I’ll have by my side. It’s a mix of classic driving albums, Louisiana voodoo, recent purchases, summery weirdness, and more. Links go to YouTube.

Obviously this is more than enough for 16 hours of driving, but it’s nice to have options. Speaking of options…

I’m always looking for more music and I don’t know who reads this blog, but perhaps you could chime in with your ALA playlist. Whether you’re driving, flying, or whatever, what music will you have at the conference? Can you recommend music for librarians?

One last thing, if you’re a music-lover, be sure to check out Euclid Records at 3401 Chartres St. in Bywater (about 1.5 miles east of Jackson Square)